AVERAGEWEIGHTS

OFPETBIRDS

MeetBigJake.HesaBlueandGoldmacawthatlivesnearMoundsville,WV.In30yearsofavianpractice,JakeholdstherecordforbeingtheheaviestpetbirdIveeverseen.ThenormalweightrangeforaBlueandGoldmacawis9001100g.Jakeslastweighinwas2415g!Hesnotonlybig,buthesalsoveryfat!Ihaveyettoexamanothermacawthatisover2000g.IchallengeanyonetofindapsittacinebirdanywhereintheUnitedStatesthatweighsmorethanJake!

Fig1:ExaminingJake,thelargestbirdIveeverweighed.

Fig2:Jakeweighed2257gin2009.Hismostrecentweightin2010was2415g.Whenanesthetized,birdscanbeeasilyweighedbylayingtheminabowelthatisplacedonagramscale.Petbirdownersarealwaysinterestedinknowinghowmuchtheirbirdweighsandifthisisnormal.Clientsalsoliketobeabletotracktheirbirdsweightoveraperiodoftimetoseeifitsgainingweight,losingany,orstayingaboutthesame.Everypetbirdisweighedduringeachvisit.Birdsareweighedingrams.Sinceeachbirdisusuallyalreadyanesthetized,itseasytogetaweightbygentlylayingthebirdinabowelthatsitsonagramscale(seepictureofBigJake).Eachbirdsweightisthenrecordedwithoneofthefollowingdescriptions;emaciated,thin,lean,normal,husky,slightlyoverweight,fat,orveryfat.Thisassessmentisnotbasedonanyspecificformula,butratheronmyownclinicalimpression.Itisrelatedtothedegreeofmusclemassinthebreast,howprominentthekeelboneis,andhowmuchsubcutaneousfatispresentoverthechestandabdominalregion.

Afterexaminingthousandsofbirdsduringthepastthreeyears,Iveaccumulatedenoughdataonweighttoconsiderthisparametertobefairlyaccurateanddescriptive.Startingin2008,allmyrecordshavebeencomputerizedsoitwaseasytocompilethisinformation.Ihaveseenover150differentbirdspecies(mostlyparrots)duringthistime.Iampresentingweightdatahereonthe60mostcommonpsittacinesthatarekeptaspets.TheminimumrequirementisthatIhaveseeneachbirdtypeaminimumof40visitsinwhichIcategorizeditsweightasbeingnormal.Clientsarealsointerestedinknowingwhatbirdsaremostcommonlykeptaspets.Icantanswerthisexactlybecausemanypetbirdsneverseeaveterinarian.Thisisespeciallytrueofsmallbirdslikebudgies,lovebirds,canariesandfinches.Somepetownersarguethatitsjusttooexpensivetotaketheirsmallbirdtothevetforroutineproceduresandtheyreright!Asaresultthetypesofbirdsthattendtobeseenbyvetsarethelarger,moreexpensiveones.Basedonmydata,withoutquestionthethreemostcommonlykeptlargespeciesofparrotsareAfricanGreys,BlueandGoldmacaws,andUmbrellacockatoos.Cockatielsarethemostcommonsmallvariety.Thelistbelowincludesthe15mostcommonparrotspeciesthatIveseeninmypractice(thatpresentedaspetbirds)andthetotalnumberofbirdvisitsduringthepastthreeyears.Somebirdsobviouslyhavebeenseenmorethanonceandeveryvisitaddstothetotalnumber. TYPEOFBIRDS#ofVISITS AfricanGrey 3298 BlueandGoldmacaw 2163 Cockatiel 1479 Umbrellacockatoo 1093 Quakerparakeet 880 Greencheekedconure 850 BluefrontedAmazon 847

Eclectusparrot 827 TimnehGrey 802 Greenwingedmacaw 783 Sunconure 711 Goffincockatoo 582 DoubleyellowAmazon 556 Moluccancockatoo 527 YellownapedAmazon 501Determiningthenormalweightofabirdtypeisnotanexactscience.WhileIcancomeupwithaspecificnumber,therearemanyothervariablestoconsider.Forexample,someindividualsarenormallylarge,othersarepetite.Sometimestheresaweightdifferencebasedonsexorage.Thereareregionalsizedifferencesandsubspeciessizevariationforsomespecies.Oneofthesebirdtypeslisted(Eclectus)includesallthedifferentspecies.Sotheaveragenumberpresentedhereisnotsetinstone.Regardless,Istillconsiderthenumberpresentedasfairlyaccurate,especiallywhenitincludesaweightrangeof10%oneithersideofthemean.SoifthemeanaverageweightofaBlueandGoldmacawis1000g,thenthenormalweightrangewouldbe9001100g.Forinterest,Ihavealsoincludedthehighestrecordedweightforeachspeciesofbird.Thisnumberwasnotderivedfromthenormalcategory,butratherfromthefatorveryfatclassification.Casualobservationofthisnumberwillalsorevealthatcertaintypesofbirdsaremorepronetoobesitythanothers.Macaws,Amazons,andconurestendtogetoverweightifkeptonahighfat,highcarbohydratedietwhileotherkindsofbirdsdonot(i.e.Africanparrotsandwhitecockatoos).

Ihavegroupedbirdsastotypesorsize.Birdsarealsolistedinorderofwhatismostcommonlyseen.Allbirdsareweighedingrams.454g=1pound28g=1oz MEAN RANGE HEAVIESTTYPEOFBIRD AVERAGEWEIGHT20%OFMEANWEIGHT INGRAMS AFRICANBIRDSAfricanGrey 447 400500 673TimnehGrey 302 270330 378Senegalparrot 133 120145 191Redbelliedparrot 134 120145 171Jardineparrot 208 185230 288Meyersparrot 110 100120 145LARGEMACAWBlueandGold 1000 9001000 2415Greenwinged 1193 10751315 1824Scarletmacaw 1033 9301135 1668Militarymacaw 896 810985 1370Harlequinmacaw 1144 10301260 1761Catalinamacaw 1063 9551170 1911Hyacinthmacaw 1301 11701430 1624Redfrontedmacaw 489 440540 603MINIMACAWSSeveremacaw 386 345425 545Hahnsmacaw 152 135165 217Yellowcollaredmacaw 234 210260 305

COCKATOOSUmbrellacockatoo 549 495600 794Goffincockatoo 269 240300 353Moluccancockatoo 824 740900 1170Rosebreastedcockatoo 300 270330 606MedSulfurcrested 478 430525 680Citroncockatoo 387 350425 632LesserSulfurcrested 324 290355 525Tritoncockatoo 607 545665 871AMAZONPARROTSBluefrontedAmazon 388 350425 819DYHAmazon 463 415510 821YellownapedAmazon 511 460560 803OrangewingedAmazon 389 350425 750RedloredAmazon 396 355435 723RedheadedAmazon 304 275335 470LilaccrownedAmazon 295 265325 430WhitefrontedAmazon 209 185230 381YellowcrownedAmazon 436 390480 570MealyAmazon 636 570700 1085CONURESGreencheekedconure 66 6072 110Sunconure 107 96115 131Bluecrownedconure 166 150180 291Nandayconure 136 120150 187Jendayconure 118 105130 139Cherryheadedconure 162 145175 276Mitredconure 217 195240 335Patagonianconure 232 210255 268

MISCELLANEOUSSMALLBIRDSCockatiel 87 80100 189PFLovebird 50 4555 112Budgerigar 33 3036 63Parrotlet 28 2531 43Lineolatedparakeet 48 4353 67MISCELLANEOUSLARGERBIRDSQuakerparakeet 105 95115 170Eclectusparrot 387 345425 716Ringneckparakeet 125 110135 169Whitebelliedcaique 166 150180 204Blackheadedcaique 156 140170 209Alexandrianparakeet 209 185230 323Moustacheparakeet 121 110135 163Rainbowlory 141 125155 186